>>36886845>Game Freak being predictable as fuckExcept them making spin-offs is actually wildly unprecedented and the reason why everyone's shitting the bed over LGEP. Forget that mainline/core bollocks for a second and look at what it is objectively. A game which borrows heavily from a spin-off with regards to several important mechanics (raid battle legendaries, candy to boost pokémon, no wild battles, spam balls to catch pokémon instead, pokémon appearing in the overworld) while at the same time being made by the original creators of Pokémon and thus immune to having to be set in an Orre or Almia region as only GF are allowed to work with the "Canon" regions. Face it, if this was TPCi-developed and set somewhere called "Suiro" no-one would bat an eyelid. But TPCi killed their spin-off line as no-one was buying them any more in favour of mobile gaming and everyone party to the franchise knows they need a game of some description a year to keep the brand visible. They're seeing if a Game Freak-made spin-off can still sell. THAT'S the whole reason for Core and Mainline anon, they don't want to unduly hurt it by calling them spin-offs (just like Game Freak consider Crystal/Emerald/Platinum to be Upper versions, when most call them Enhanced versions).
